Sometimes transfers just don’t work out and this can be for a variety of reasons; injury, loss of form, pressure or not fitting into a team’s style of play, for Cedric Itten, a lack of consistent game time is probably the biggest cause.
When the Switzerland international signed on the same day as Kemar Roofe, Jermain Defoe was still a solid back-up and Alfredo Morelos was expected to leave, a £16million bid from Lille hinting that his time at Ibrox had come to an end.
The transfer window came and went with no major departures though which left Itten playing third and even fourth fiddle in the pecking order and since then, little has changed, a loan spell in the Bundesliga doing little to improve his chances.
In what will be a far from surprising turn of events, Football Insider has claimed that Rangers are willing to listen to offers for the 25-year old, hoping that any money made can be reinvested:
“Rangers will listen to offers this summer for striker Cedric Itten, Football Insider understands.
“The Switzerland international, 25, has struggled to make an impact at Ibrox since returning from a loan spell at German club Greuther Furth.
“An Ibrox source has told Football Insider that the club are willing to let Itten go for the right offer in the summer window.”
To put it into perspective, Celtic signed Giorgios Giakoumakis for a fee that could rise to £2.5million – similar to what we paid for Itten – and he has proven to be a more than reliable deputy to Kyogo Furuhashi with 12 goals at a rate of one every 96 minutes in his debut season.
This was a player that Vital Rangers had identified as being available and available well within our budget long before Celtic made their interest known, it’s impossible to get every transfer right, however, this has been a mistake that could well cost us the title.